1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to improved automotive gasket assemblies for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to (a) improved combustion cylinder head gaskets applied between engine block and cylinder head structures of said engines, and (b) to their methods of manufacture and use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that motivation for preserving secrecy in racing engine design parameters, generally among industry participants such as NASCAR, and particularly among the ranks of professional racing engine builders, is on the increase. To the extent that competition among racing engine participants will grow as the industry continues to grow, proprietary designs employed in racing engine gaskets are more likely to be more vigorously guarded in the foreseeable future than ever before.
Most traditional prior art engine gaskets, and particularly cylinder head gaskets associated with sealing combustion related parts of an engine, have often been manufactured by gasket makers under secrecy agreements. Such secrecy arrangements, however, are not always reliable, and as employees have moved from one venue to another, the secrets have often tended to become public knowledge sooner than later.
As a result, traditional gasket manufacturing techniques have been subject to being shared readily among industry participants, and it has been particularly difficult to assure secrecy for substantial periods of time.
The present invention is a gasket for sealing between mated surfaces, such as between an engine block and a cylinder head. In one preferred form, a multiple layer gasket is adapted for sealing between mated surfaces of rigid members, said surfaces containing a plurality of spaced apart apertures. The gasket, suited for being provided in kit form for use by aftermarket racing engine builders, is of a design that particularly lends itself to secrecy. For example, the oil and water apertures of the gasket remain unformed, and are hence blocked and unrevealed to the gasket manufacture. Desired configurations of the fluid apertures can be later established and formed at the racing site, under secret or proprietary specifications of a particular racing engine builder, thus assuring appropriate proprietary protection for any competitive advantage realized.
In one preferred embodiment, the kit comprises a plurality of combustion gasket pieces; specifically three loose, unriveted, hence disconnected, cylinder head gasket layers, wherein all three layers contain combustion and bolt apertures, and only the outer layers include fluid apertures. A center layer is designed as a fluid flow-metering layer of the gasket, and includes stenciled or etched cutouts for the cutting, punching, or drilling of fluid apertures, the center layer being adapted for alignment with at least a boundary portion of the first or top layer.
Specific locations and shapes of apertures in the center layer are to be created in the field (i.e. at racing site) for reasons of proprietary secrecy. The invention contemplates, however, that the stenciled or etched cutouts provided on at least one side of the center layer might in some cases be suggested, rather than actual, areas of said cutting, punching, or drilling of desired aperture locations. Finally, in one preferred embodiment, the layers are doweled so as to be fastened together upon installation in an engine. In the latter instance, the center layer also includes apertures adapted to receive dowel pins during installation of the gasket in the field.